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Miscellaneous unorganized material/KSWO-TV
| homepage = www.kswo.com| }} '''KSWO-TV (branded as "7 News") is the ABC affiliate located in Lawton, Oklahoma but also serves Wichita Falls, Texas. Its transmitter is located near Grandfield, Oklahoma. KSWO broadcasts its analog signal on VHF channel 7 and its digital signal on VHF channel 11. KSWO also offers Telemundo programming on digital channel 7.2. History KSWO is owned by Drewry Communications Group, which started out with one radio property at Lawton, KSWO-AM, in 1941, followed by the addition of KRHD Radio in nearby Duncan, Oklahoma in 1947. The call letters of the Duncan station were named for the owner, Robert H. Drewry's, initials. The call letters KSWO are now exclusively used by the TV station and KRHD is now used as the call sign for an ABC affiliate in Bryan-College Station, Texas, which is also owned by Drewry. KSWO-TV is the only television station in the Wichita Falls-Lawton market to have remained under the same ownership since its inception and to remain locally owned and operated to this day. It also one of the few TV stations in the country (not counting owned-and-operated stations) that has had the same call letters, channel number, and primary network affiliation throughout its history. Drewry Communications Group also owns ABC affiliate KXXV in Waco, Texas; NBC affiliates KWES-TV in Midland, Texas; KWES repeater station KWAB-TV in Big Spring, Texas, and Disney Channel affiliate KSGH-TV in Fort Worth, Texas. KSWO, along with the other Drewry stations, is being sold to London Broadcasting, a sale that is expected to be finalized by the end of 2008. http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/07/01/07012008wacKXXVsale.html KSWO-TV has several long-time veterans who have been with the station for 20 years or longer. Jan Stratton has served as anchor continuously since 1981 and was news director until July 2006, while co-anchor and current news director, David Bradley has been with the station since 1986 first as sports director/anchor for 13 years and then as news anchor since 1999. Tom Charles has been a familiar face to Channel 7 viewers since the early 1960s. He served as chief weathercaster/meteorologist from 1964 to 1996 and then as anchor of the 5:30 a.m. newscast and Good Morning Texoma co-anchor since 2000 following a four-year stint as chief meteorologist at CBS affiliate KAUZ-TV in Wichita Falls, Texas. Larry Patton has served as general manager of KSWO-TV since 1976 and has been employed by the station since 1967. In 1976, Lisa John was anchoring the 10 p.m. newscast one Sunday night when a skunk made its way into the studio causing her face to turn pale on live television before hundreds of thousands of viewers across Southwest Oklahoma and North Texas. Due to electrical outages following a damaging windstorm that rolled through the Lawton area in late May, 1996, the early morning newscast "Good Morning Texoma" was broadcast virtually in the dark. The only power came from the portable generator in one of the stations live trucks, which they also used as a makeshift STL (studio-to-transmitter link) to get the signal to the transmitter. The show was done with one camera, one tape deck and one microphone (that was passed between the talent). KSWO has broadcast the annual West Texas Rehabilitation Center telethon from Abilene, Texas each year since 1971. The telethon is broadcast one Saturday night each January over TV stations throughout the state. The station's first transmitter was at the studios east of Lawton, which was a relatively low-power unit that could reach viewers within a limited 55-mile radius that included Altus, Oklahoma to the west, Wichita Falls to the south, Anadarko, Oklahoma to the north and Ringling, Oklahoma to the east. By the late 1950s, other ABC affiliates such as KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City and KTEN in Ada, Oklahoma were encroaching the northern and eastern fringes on KSWO's viewing area but wide gaps existed to the south and west of Wichita Falls and the only primary ABC affiliates in north and west Texas were WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth and KVII-TV in Amarillo as Lubbock and Abilene did not get their own primary ABC affiliates until 1969 and 1979, respectively. In 1959, the FCC permitted KSWO-TV to erect a 1,000 foot tall tower with 316,000 watts of power (maximum allowable for VHF channels 7-13) near Grandfield, Oklahoma, which was activated in early 1960 and permitted reception of Channel 7 over a much larger area of North Texas and Southwest Oklahoma - bringing complete ABC programming with viewable reception to many locations for the first time. Wichita Falls stations KFDX-TV and KSYD-TV (now KAUZ) opposed the application, and the FCC had to be convinced. The new site was about half way between the cities and from a Lawton perspective in the same direction as the Wichita Falls stations. Many years later when KJTL Fox 18 was activated in the mid-1980s, they chose a site near KSWO-TV's transmitter at Grandfield. Ironically, KJTL Fox 18 is now in common ownership with NBC affiliate KFDX Channel 3, which continues to operate its own transmitter from the original site in Wichita Falls as does CBS affiliate KAUZ Channel 6. KSWO produces 20.5 hours of news programming a week. Personalities Current on-air talent 7 NEWS ANCHORS *'David Bradley', Weekday Evening Anchor/News Director *'Monte Brown', Weekend Evening Anchor/Reporter *'Tom Charles', 7 Wake-Up News/Good Morning Texoma Anchor *'Emily Jaster', Weekday Evening Anchor *'Stacia Naquin', 7 Wake-Up News/Good Morning Texoma Anchor *'Jan Stratton', Weekday Evening Anchor *'Lindsay Vocht', Weekend Morning Anchor, Reporter 7 NEWS REPORTERS *'Sylvia Corkill', General Assignment Reporter *'Terri Poahway', MedWatch Reporter *'Robert Richardson', Nightside Reporter *'Elaina Rusk', General Assignment Reporter *'Kenny Scarle', General Assignment Reporter SKYWARN 7 METEOROLOGISTS *'David Baxley', Chief Meteorologist *'Justin Rudicel', Meteorologist *'Dan Zarrow', Meteorologist SPORTS ANCHORS/REPORTERS *'Dan Seed', Sports Director/Weekday Sports Anchor *'Chris Thomasson', Weekend Sports Anchor Former on-air talent *'Matt Barrie'- sports anchor (2004-2005) *'Dan Bretweiser' - news reporter (2005–2007 *'Robert Burch' - anchor/reporter (1995–2003); now at OETA *'Andrea Charles' - reporter (2006–2008) *'Courtney Coates' - weekend morning anchor/reporter (200?-2006); now at KOKH *'Harry Edens' - news anchor/reporter/staff announcer (1960s-early 1980s) *'Vince Erickson'- sports director (1999-2003) *'Mike Francis' - meteorologist (1998–2000) *'Kurt Goff' - weekend anchor (1987-89) *'David A. Grady' - news director/anchor (1967–1973) *'Tarra G. Haskins' - anchor/reporter/talk show host (1980–1983) *'Dave Hunt' - sports anchor (2006–2007) *'Lisa John' - news director/weekend news anchor/reporter (1974–1981; deceased) *'Arthur Johnson' - news anchor (1962–1967) *'Hugh Johnson' - news anchor (1972–1977) *'J Kendel Johnson' - assistant news director/anchor/reporter/producer/assignments editor (1981–1984) *'Lew Johnson' - sports anchor (1965–1981) *'Nicole Jolly' - anchor/reporter (1994–2006; now at Southwestern Medical Center) *'Eric Law' - meteorologist (2002–2004); now at WLBT *'Michael Leal' - reporter (1986–1991); now at WMCE *'Don Long' - weekend sports anchor (1970-71) *'Cecilia Mason' - anchor/reporter (1987–1989) *'Mike McDonald' - news anchor (1980–1994) *'Bob McGuire' - weathercaster/staff announcer (1979-82; previously at KSWO-AM 1380)now at KTVQ *'Patrick McKee' - morning meteorologist (2001–2003); chief meteorologist (2003–2005) now at WSLS *'Bill McReynolds' - news anchor (1953-1956) *'Jim Moore' - meteorologist (1996–1998) *'Stacia Naquin' - morning anchor/executive producer (2001–2008); now at KKTV *'Chad Nichols' - meteorologist (2001–2003) *'Kevin Ogle' - reporter (early 1980s; now at KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City) *'Harold Patterson' - weekend sports anchor/reporter (1976-79) *'Don Peeples' - weathercaster (1953-1955; later at KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City and KAMR-TV in Amarillo, TX) *'Scott Perkins' - sports director (1979–1986) *'Paul Phillips' - news reporter (1968-71) *'Sheila Rawls' - host/anchor of noon newscast Profile (1973-78) and Exercise With Sheila (1975-77) *'Tom Reddell' - weathercaster (late 1950s-early 1960s) *'Darrell Reed' - staff meteorologist (1987–1992) *'Robert Richardson' - news reporter (2008–2009); now at WHNT *'Bill Riley' - news director/co-anchor 1973-1979) *'Rochelle Ritchie' - news reporter (2006–2007) *'Elaina Rusk' - reporter/fill-in anchor (2007–2008); now at KERO-TV *'Beverly Saffa (aka Beverly Stapleton)' - anchor/host of Profile (1967-1973) and host of public affairs program Platform (1986-96) *'Kenny Scarle' - news reporter (2006–2008) *'Randy Scott' - sports reporter/producer/anchor (2004-2005) *'Mike Straub'- sports anchor (?-?) *'Tanner Swift' - metorologist (2003–2005) *'Chris Thomasson'- sports anchor (2007–2009) *'Nathan Thompson'- sports director (1997–2008) *'Dan Threlkeld' - weathercaster (1981–1983; later at KFOR in Oklahoma City, now chief meteorologist at KJRH in Tulsa) *'Jennifer Tipton' - anchor (1997–2004) *'Nelly Tsoodle' - news reporter (1992–2008) *'Kim Truong' - meteorologist (2006–2008; Now at WQAD-TV in Moline, IL) *'Doug Wahl' - "Good Morning Texoma" anchor (1997–1999) *'Andy Wallace' - meteorologist (1992–1993); chief meteorologist (1996–2003) *'Dave Wallace' - meteorologist (1996–2000; deceased) *'Lynn Walker' - news anchor (1996–1999, now at Times Record News in Wichita Falls, TX) *'Pat Walker' - chief meteorologist (2005–2008); now at Independent News Network in Davenport, IA) *'Winnifred Washington' - reporter (1980-81) *'Mark Weinberg' - meteorologist (early 1990s) *'Mack Young' - news reporter/photographer (1967-70; previously at The Lawton Constitution/Morning Press and later at KFDX-TV 3) *'Dan Zarrow' - meteorologist (2006-0ct.2008) News/station presentation Newscast Titles *''KSWO-TV Newsreel'' (1953-1963) *''TV-7 News'' (1963-1973) *''Channel 7 News'' (1973-1977) *''Newscene 7'' (1977-1979) *''Action 7 News'' (1979-1996) *''7 News'' (1996-present) Station slogans *''The TV-7 News Team - Putting Southwest Oklahoma and North Texas First Gives You the Winning Team'' (1970-1973) *''Channel 7 News, Most Watched News Source in Southwest Oklahoma and North Texas'' (1974-1977) *''Newscene 7, The Most Comprehensive News in Texoma'' (1977-1979) *''Still the One in Texoma'' (1977-1978 and 1979-1980; localized version of ABC ad campaign) *''We're the One in Texoma: Channel 7'' (1978-1979; localized version of ABC ad campaign) *''Now is the Time and 7's The Place'' (1981-1982; localized version of ABC ad campaign) *''7's The Place'' (1982-1985; local campaign similar to Tulsa's KTUL "8's The Place" campaign) *''Come on Along with KSWO-TV Channel 7'' (1982-1983; localized version of ABC ad campaign) *''KSWO: 7's The Place, Looking Out For You!'' (1985-1990). *''Action 7 News, The Most Complete Newscast in Texoma'' (1989-1992) *''Texoma's Watching Action 7'' (1990–1992, localized version of ABC ad campaign) *''If It's Action 7, It Must Be ABC'' (1992–1993, localized version of ABC ad campaign) *''You Can Count on Us!'' (2000–present) External links *KSWO Homepage * * * Category:ABC network affiliates Category:Telemundo network affiliates Category:Television stations in Oklahoma Category:Channel 7 TV stations in the United States Category:Television channels and stations established in 1953